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Vernon hiker seeks permission to sue after state-owned footbridge collapsed, leaving him paralyzed
Summary
A Vernon man seriously injured when a rotted board collapsed under him on a state-owned footbridge told the Judiciary Committee the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection knew of the hazard months earlier and ordered materials but delayed repairs.
HARTFORD — A Vernon resident who sustained a catastrophic spinal cord injury after falling through a state-owned footbridge told the Judiciary Committee on March 28 that the state knew of the hazard months before his accident but did not warn the public or complete repairs.
Dwight Otis testified that on Sept. 3, 2018, a rotten board on a bridge in the Belding Wildlife Management Area collapsed under his foot and he fell approximately 10 feet into a river, striking a boulder. He told the committee he was left temporarily paralyzed from the neck down and now lives with central cord syndrome and chronic nerve pain. “I will feel this pain 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the rest of my life,” Otis said.
Otis and his wife, Sharon Reynolds, presented documents they said show the Connecticut…
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